Ennis vs. Ortiz Jr. Verbal Agreement Reached for February 22nd Fight

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. have reportedly agreed to a fight on February 22nd in Riyadh for Vergil’s WBC interim junior title. It’s still not official, but the two have verbally agreed.

Ennis will have to bulk up a little so he can have a chance against the heavy artillery that Vergil will be bombing him with.  Boxing Scene’s Lance Pugmire reports that Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) and Ortiz Jr (22-0, 21 KOs) have agreed.

You got to give Boots credit for bravery in taking this fight because Vergil Jr. is a cut above, and all wrong for him on paper.

Interestingly, Boots and Ortiz Jr. have agreed to fight at 154 because Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, had said in an interview on Tuesday that the fight could be at 147. Ennis needs every chance he can get to win after how he looked in his last fight against Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9th.

There are no words to describe how bad Boots looked in that fight. Karen, who couldn’t miss his punches, hit him with everything but the kitchen sink and clowned him in front of Boots’ fans at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

That would slant things in Ennis’ favor because Vergil Jr. had outgrown the welterweight division two years ago in 2022 and would be putting his health at risk trying to return. At 154, you’d have to make Vergil the favorite because Boots has looked poor in his last two fights against Karen and David Avanesyan.

It’s a hard fight for Boots to take in his first try at 154, but he’s got to do something. He’s not getting the fights he wants at 147 against any of the other champions, and his future is limited if he stays. Moving up to 154 could help Ennis, provided he doesn’t fall apart immediately in his clash against Vergil.

If Ennis loses this fight to Ortiz Jr, it will be fun to see Hearn’s reaction. Watching Boots’ ship get scuttled by Vergil on February 22nd will put Hearn in a predicament where he’ll need to decide on whether to undertake an expensive Joshua-type rebuild job or wash his hands of him, viewing him as a mistake.

When Hearn signed Ennis in April 2024, he looked like pure 24k gold, the type of fighter whose value could continue increasing for years. But after watching Ennis struggle in his two fights under his helm against Avanesyan and Chukhadzhian, Hearn quickly found out that he got it all wrong. Ennis is fools’ gold, and Hearn clearly blew it.